In this captivating tale based on an actual incident in 1911, an Italian workman breaks the law to "save" the title painting. Although she cannot speak, Mona Lisa narrates the story of her unsuccessful abduction by Vincenzo Perugia. Believing that France's ownership of da Vinci's painting amounted to theft, Perugia vowed to bring her home to Italy. From Mona Lisa's point of view, Vincenzo is a friend, and the trip to Florence a vacation ("hanging on a wall year after year is not as easy as you might think"). The book is brief, but Jacobson's (Picasso: Soul on Fire
) dense text brims with suspenseful details, and he humorously imagines how a painting might feel (describing their retreat through the Italian countryside, she says, "A playful gust of wind loosened my wrapping and suddenly I could see.... We rushed past trees and I recognized them. They mirrored the ones painted behind me"). In greens and golds, the artists depict the long shadows of the poplars at dawn, the tiny automobile containing Vincenzo and his treasure traveling between them. Readers learn in an informative afterword of Perugia's strange fate (far from tragic, thankfully) once his ruse is uncovered. Jacobson and Fernandez's beautifully drafted watercolors convey a sense of excitement while capturing many details of the era. Jacobson wisely resists the temptation to teach or preach in his unusual tale; he merely delights in the events, and readers will, too. Ages 5-7. (Aug.)
